


Shadowgift

by SirAranIsWriting



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Gen, Magic, Mentioned Odin (Fire Emblem)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-01
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-10-01 19:44:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17250233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SirAranIsWriting/pseuds/SirAranIsWriting
Summary: When Ophelia presented gifts from apparently another world, Rhajat was all too eager to start doing some further research of her own.(Written for a friend as part of Nagamas 2018. The prompt was "Rhajat playing with Dark magic." It also said that I could "include Hayato in the background if [I] want," soooo... I did. )





	Shadowgift

**Author's Note:**

> Why WAS there only the "Flux" tome in Fates, and yet still keep the whole "Only Dark Mages can use this" ability that is Shadowgift? It's almost like Fates had a few design oversights and misfires. Almost.

One day, Rhajat and Ophelia sat together in the grounds of Corrin's castle, exchanging magical tomes, talismans, and scrolls of Nohr and Hoshido, to properly study the difference between the magics of the kingdoms of their parents. Ophelia was utterly delighted with what she saw; she stared with starry eyes at the incantations and artwork on the talismans, already imaging the animal spirits encircling her and charging out at her enemies as she invoked their power. It seemed like the most natural, perfect fit for her. She had to show these to her father, he'd absolutely adore it, just as she did.

Rhajat, however, was growing more and more frustrated the more she went over the tomes. Not that she found the magics within objectionable, in and of themselves. But she saw similarities, on a fundamental level, between it and her own magic from Hoshido. While a bit more direct, perhaps, without invoking animal spirits, there were still basic elements that made this magic understandable to anyone magically literate. They didn't  _challenge_ Rhajat in the way that she knew she could be.

After rapidly flipping through the pages of the tome, Rhajat scowled and slammed the book shut, growling in frustration as she sat back. "Bunch of cowards," she grumbled in frustration.

"Huh?" Ophelia turned her head, looking to Rhajat, still lying back in the grass and holding one of Rhajat's scrolls over her head. "Who's the cowards?"

"The so called  _scholars_ of our kingdoms," Rhajat explained. She bit the tip of her thumb to control herself, vent her frustration, as she continued ranting. "You and I have a gift, Ophelia. Even our fathers have that gift. A gift for Dark Magic."

"Oooh, you mean the Shadowgift!" Ophelia said, eyes going starry in recollection.

Rhajat waved her hand dismissively. "Whatever your dad calls it. It means we can use tomes many others can't. Well.  _Tome_." Rhajat shuffled through the pile of Nohrian tomes, and held up the tome of Nosferatu. She bit her thumb again, as she elaborated. " **This** is the only tome in our collection, in the entire army, if not the entire  **world** , that even touches on the very theory of Dark Magic. It is such a waste to our gift!"

Ophelia sighed, and sat up, shaking her head sadly. "Ah. I understand what you mean. My father felt the same frustration. Said there was a lot more Dark Magic where he came from."

Rhajat stared blankly at Ophelia, easing up on the bite on her thumb. "What," she uttered, flatly.

Ophelia nodded enthusiastically. "Oh, yes! Father said that, in his home kingdom, there were plenty more tomes that delved into Dark Magic. He said it's where he got the  _Dark_ in his name."

Rhajat smirked. "What, his name isn't  _really_   Odin Dark? You don't say?"

Ophelia laughed, waving  _her_ hand dismissively. "It's more of an heroic title," she agreed. "Like how Lord Ryoma took on his name after single handedly pushing back a small Nohrian invasion force."

Rhajat's eyes went wide. "Really?" she asked, genuinely surprised and intrigued.

"Anyway, father actually brought a few of these tomes with him on his travels, as sort of mementos and reminders." Leaning to one side, Ophelia grabbed a satchel of tomes she hadn't yet opened, and handed them to Rhajat for her perusal. "They're the only ones of their kind, so he doesn't like using them in battle, for fear of them getting damaged," Ophelia explained. She giggled. "He looked to the horizon, distantly, when he told me that. I think he might have taken some of these without permission."

Dusting off the cover of a tome labeled "Aversa's Night," Rhajat gazed at it with utter fascination and delight. "This is incredible...it might even be possible to replicate these spells, bring them to Nohr, Hoshido...imagine the advantage these could give us in battle..."

"Oh, he asked me never to bring them into battle, either," Ophelia pointed out. "I guess, not until they could be replicated." She smiled brightly, and nodded enthusiastically. "But! You're welcome to keep them, if you like! To look over and study!"

Rhajat's bite on her thumb grew harder. Her eyes were alight with evil joy. "Iiiiin-heh-heh-heh-teresting..." she said between wicked cackles...

* * *

Shaking out the flame on the match, Rhajat stepped away from the black candles she set up as illumination, and sat cross legged on the bare cushion in the middle of the room, in front of which she had fanned out all seven, unique, dark tomes. She picked up one, "Flux," and began to flip through it, muttering aloud as she read along.

As she muttered along, she idly waggled her fingers, going through the magical motions, already planning out how the magic would look were she to cast it in battle. As she conjured, she could feel a thick, malleable force starting to build around her fingers. She looked up to see a black, shadowy ooze suddenly form around her fingers. She stared in alarm for a second, before an evil, delighted grin spread across her lips. She continued to wave her fingers, this time trying to manipulate the shadows more directly. She watched as the shadows seemed to drip and sag from around her fingers, pulsating with oppressive energy. Not much, but certainly unlike any other magic she had conjured. Well, perhaps except Nosferatu.

Looking across the room, Rhajat held her hand towards one of the target dummies she had swiped from the barracks, and clenched her fist. The shadows vanished from her hand, only to reappear underneath the dummy, and surge upwards, rocking it from side to side. Though it left no marks like a Fire or Lightning spell would have, Rhajat could still see that the dummy had been shook by the spell. She could only imagine the mental taxing it would do to a  _living_ target. Her imagination got away from her for a moment, acting out a scene of her using such a spell in live combat, before she excitedly set the Flux tome aside, picking up one labeled "Mire," instead.

There was a knock on her door, as she continued to read from these tomes, conjuring and manipulating dark, inky, ooze-like shadows around her. A muffled voice came through the door.  _"Rhajat? It's your father. What, uh, what are you doing in there? Your mom was looking for you, and Ophelia said you were checking out these unique tomes she loaned you...everything alright in there, Rhajat?"_

By this time, Rhajat had gotten to her feet, holding her elbow as her arm was thrust to the ground, the tome hovering below her palm, pages flipping wildly on their own. She was a sight that would've made Ophelia and Odin more than proud, but that was distant from Rhajat's thoughts. A delighted cackle escaped her, as incredible dark force tore the target dummy apart, the shadows emitting loud moans of their own, ghostly wails that filled the room.

 _"Rhajat?"_ Hayato's voice again came through the door, muffled though it was.  _"What was that noise? You aren't doing your whole necromancy thing again, are you? Y-You know how I feel about you communing with ghosts and spirits and that kind of thing, kiddo. ...Rhajat!?"_

Letting the "Goetia" tome collapse to the floor, Rhajat shifted back onto her knees, picking up the last of the tomes. She cooed in fascination. "Ooh. Grima's Truth. This should be interesting," she mused, cracked the tome open with one hand, her fingers on the other wiggling with anticipation, warming up to try out whatever spells were within this most intricate and dark tome.

 _BANG! BANG! BANG!_ A heavy pounding came on the door.

Rhajat rolled her eyes, snapped the book shut, and rose to her feet. "Ugh. Fine, dad. What do you want? Interrupt my fun..."  

**Author's Note:**

> Nagamas is a Fire Emblem fandom gift exchange done through Tumblr; every Christmas since its start in 2013 (and once for the summer of 2014), fans submit prompts, likes, and dislikes to the main Nagamas blog, which you can find, here: nagamas.tumblr.com  
> Yes, even with the great Tumblr cock-up exodus, there are still a few relics there worth digging through.
> 
> Also, did Ryoma ACTUALLY change his name at some point in the backstory? Probably not. Most definitely not. But why not indulge in a little Sengoku Jidai motifs even more for him, specifically, and take on new names as his achievements grew, as Hideyoshi, Nobunaga, and Ieyasu did before?


End file.
